Buck Compton said:

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A is A said:

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Well end of day Friday and my "we'll talk tomorrow" on Tuesday has turned into radio silence. I'm hopeful they took my issue to heart and are discuss it at the board.

I've pitched 6 months, 3 months, even 2 weeks per year worked (18 weeks). The 80+ hasn't been bad. I've learned a lot and it's really only been hard when work spilled into the weekend.

We'll see if something happens next week

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I'm sorry, you aren't really working 80+ per week without it spilling into the weekend. 8am to Midnight, M-FR, working with no breaks = 80 hours a week.

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If you just want to be critical, please leave the thread. You are not helpful.

The 80 hr weeks were during critical weeks during our project this last quarter. I worked at least 5 weeks on that schedule, with two weeks including a 8pm to 5am stretch.

Feel free to troll elsewhere.

For those that care and are being helpful - I have have 0 communication with the team since my last post. I have called and they have not returned my call, despite having told they would have followed up last Wednesday.

can you share the size of the company?

i still recommend giving a solid 9-5pm effort, meet expectations, and doing that until the company decides to act one way or the other.

A is A said:

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Daytona22 said:

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Are you salaried? If so, they're getting the most out of you staying and continuing to work 80+ hours. IMO they're not treating you right if they're trying to get you to leave on your own accord.

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I am salaried. To be clear, since some in this thread have a hard time with what I said about 80+ hrs. that is during heightened project load. My current work hours around around 630 am to ~6 pm. During some maintenance windows I work evenings and weekends (this is a role I picked up).

I have a few corporate lawyers in the extended family that I have leveraged the last week since my company has been radio silence. You are right, what they are doing is not right, but not illegal. However, I have drafted a pretty strong email, with help from the lawyers to send to HR if I do not hear back by Friday.

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No way I work 6:30 to 6 if the company treated me the way they have treated you. Stop being so nice and being used and run over.

No he can keep working, just stop the extra hours grind. I'm not saying to quit.

fka ftc said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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A is A said:

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Daytona22 said:

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Are you salaried? If so, they're getting the most out of you staying and continuing to work 80+ hours. IMO they're not treating you right if they're trying to get you to leave on your own accord.

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I am salaried. To be clear, since some in this thread have a hard time with what I said about 80+ hrs. that is during heightened project load. My current work hours around around 630 am to ~6 pm. During some maintenance windows I work evenings and weekends (this is a role I picked up).

I have a few corporate lawyers in the extended family that I have leveraged the last week since my company has been radio silence. You are right, what they are doing is not right, but not illegal. However, I have drafted a pretty strong email, with help from the lawyers to send to HR if I do not hear back by Friday.

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No way I work 6:30 to 6 if the company treated me the way they have treated you. Stop being so nice and being used and run over.

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Then his option is to quit and receive no severance which is not the option they prefer nor the option they think is just.

I would not suggest the OP is being run over. They seem like a hard working person in a bad situation seeking the most desirable outcome. If they have a family they provide and care for, up and quitting your job has consequences all its own.

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Working 12+ hours a day long term is being run over....

agreed - the loyalty you have to this company to work like that must be coming with some tremendous amount of upside. If not, you are being steamrolled

fka ftc said:

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Depends on the person, the job and the situation. Some people work those hours to climb the ladder, some work those hours helping a business grow hoping for larger opportunities, and to your point sometimes people are taken advantage of.

My point was the OP knows they are in a bad situation and want a change. I'm just not going to bag on them for sticking it out until they figure it out.

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OP was told they need to resign and the company is just leading him on at this point....

I worked 12+ hour days in my first couple jobs out of college. It was manageable because I didn't have kids and, like above, I thought it was needed to grow. Still led to weight gain, drinking more than I'd like, and just a miserable life. And it got me nowhere with the companies.

I now love where I work and 40 hours is the norm. Yes, I've had 60 hour weeks when deadlines arise but it isn't the norm or expected. I can even say no when those cases arise, but obviously I don't.

There's a difference in stepping up when you need to for deliverables and personal growth and being taken advantage of....

And, to be clear, none of this is meant to bag on the OP. Obviously they are a hard worker, they aren't doing anything wrong. But I'd be ready to get the hell out of there.

For those ****ting on me about hours. 80 may have been an exaggeration. There many weeks the last 6 months I worked between 60-65 hours.

Update: TLDR - getting treated, openly, different. Getting 0 severance. Guaranteed work based bonus shorted. Will be notified all their employees that I talk about the severance issue. Glad to be done with this process and they jack wagons.

Update: I had a call with managing director on 6/6. Was told that policy changed at the start of the year - no severance. I asked them about my last day, I was not given a date. That phone call turn sour fast as the MD was banging tables, cussing at me on the phone, and telling me it was one sided. We left the call with him agreeing to call back the next day.

2 weeks past with no response. I emailed him, CCed HR. I told them that I will be on PTO until my end day of 630. I asked them, based on past communications and previous agreements for a particular number for severance. When I was told I was being let go, I was promised a pro-rated bonus based on performance on a project.
1 week goes by with no communication. I get a separation agreement last Friday. No severance. My bonus does not cover time worked.

I had a call with compliance and HR yesterday. It was suppose to be a 20 min call. It was 1hr 15. I laid into the about all the false promises. All the back talk. My treatment over the last 6 months. And some other topics that I don't want to put here. Let them know that I will not hold my tongue when asked about this process. And I am having them put an NDA addendum to the agreement regarding something else (the reason they are letting me go - medical related).

All in all. I hold my head high. I've been treated like **** while outperforming and being overly generous with my time while looking for a new job. Glad to be done with this company.

Sorry for typos, on phone and in a car.

Wow. Company name please

Did you at least leave it where you can file for unemployment if they aren't going to pay a severance? If so, you should do it, make the company pay you severance one way or another.

JobSecurity said:

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Wow. Company name please

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They want me to sign a non-disparage agreement. I told them I cannot without pay, as I have a lot of disparaging things to say about you all in the last 6 months. so I have until 7/7 to negotiate that. If they don't add my nda for medical (see above post) or if they dont compensate me to not say bad things - I'm not signing.

Yeah, the whole point of severance is to get employees to sign all the relevant releases… It's not to take care of employees. Don't sign **** without compensation.

Don't sign **** from them! Doesn't sound like they're giving you anything so you have no obligation to give them anything in return.

Hey, listen to me. Please.

Do not sign anything without significant pay. The purpose of an agreement where you waive your rights is that you are compensated for that.

The company cannot disclose anything about your health to a third party. This is federal law, bro.

The question you need to be asking is what's in it for you? An agreement with zero severance has nothing in it for you.

You need an employment lawyer asap. It sounds to me like they're playing you like a cheap fiddle.

Side note: how unprofessional to get angry and bang your desk. Who TF does that?

A is A said:

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fka ftc said:

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FourAggies said:

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If you don't want to be "just be done with it", you may want to talk with an attorney. A couple of things seem questionable and they can help with the severance agreement. If you do retain an attorney, I wouldn't let the company
know. They seem to be making mistakes and you don't want them to clam up.

A few questions for your consideration, not for you to answer on this thread

Why have a severance agreement, if there's no value given? If your bonus is some substitute for salary and isn't covering normal salary for time worked, then you probably have a claim. You're performing the job and they want to fire you for a medical condition? That sounds like a more significant claim against them. Regarding severance, a lawyer could help to see if they had a policy change, as opposed to singling you out. I know you have be careful about fighting with an employer, but this company really seems poor at HR issues that has impacted you.

Wish you the best in your job search. I'm certain your next employer will be better.

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You will have a very hard time making a claim against a company outside of being part of a protected class. If a medical condition is involved, that works and would seem to warrant a look from a lawyer.

For most normal folks, even a formal severance policy does not mean a company has to adhere to it. No different than them having a policy of requiring two weeks notice. You don't have to give it, they don't have to pay it.

I have routinely handed a resigning employee a severance agreement paying them their two weeks in return for a signed release. Medical conditions and protected classes require a more refined approach.

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I have no hard evidence for being fired for the medical reason. The reason I claim that is because for 6 months I continuously ask them, "is it aptitude?" "is is money?" "did I do something wrong?" and everything is calm and reassuring that I have done nothing wrong. When I press back and ask "is it because [the medical event]?" they get angry and very defensive. My last call, the managing director slammed his desk, raised his voice, and got hostile at the fact that I would even ask that. Pretty telling stuff.

From a lawsuit standpoint, I've talked to a few employment and benefits specialty lawyers, and without some concrete emails or voicemails, not much of a case. Plus I just want to be done and find a new job without having all this over my head.

The purpose of the OP was to see if was coming out of left field asking for severance. On Tuesday, a close associate at the company came to me and asked me "are they giving you your 9 months severance?" as if it was a matter of fact policy. I laughed. I told compliance this week during my offboarding call that their message to the employees needs a drastic change.

I confirmed on the call with compliance the language of the separation agreement that I am allowed to tell individuals that I am not getting a severance agreement. I will be letting people know in the company my treatment so that they can think for themselves as to whether they want to wait around and get fired for 0 severance or if they should just go find a job before that happens.

Regarding the more refined approach. I am making them sign and addendum nda about the medical condition that is applicable to the company and employees as a whole. So they agreed to that, which was more than I expected because that is legally hard to govern from a business side.

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that's what Discovery is for, to find the hard proof that are likely in the emails from the MD to other Mds. you could easily make them spend 100k on Discovery if you do it right. they'll settle quickly, they are counting on you going away quietly

do not sign! retain counsel and get their opinion.
do not let your employer know you have retained counsel

And here is a scenario you should consider - even if you don't think you have a case now because you don't think there is enough documentation (which you can't really know because you don't know what they have), the next guy they fire might. And when a lawyer does get something to chew on, folks like yourself are candidates to fold into a bigger suit. One of the first things these plaintiffs lawyers do when they think they have something is look for more similar clients to add

Fyi on my background - work for a Fortune 100 in various roles where I have been involved in different aspects of several restructurings (ie people fired) from the company side, and separately, I also happen to see every lawsuit filed against us. We have a generous, consistent severance policy, and make no mistake, it is intended to buy the release and keep people happy enough to not sue us.

This is getting interesting

If I had to put myself in the company's shoes: you probably aren't a protected class, texas is an at-will state, they are trying to decide whether you'd have a case in a lawsuit vs paying you and asking you to sign a separation agreement/release. They probably looked at your chip size and think you may not have the resources and a strong enough case to file suit. What will be cheaper: a severance and release or slow playing you in litigation? You need to get the opinion of a solid employment attorney (not cheap). May cost you $1000 to sit down and go over everything. I know one in Dallas if you need one.